Brennan Update

Ok, so here it's been super long since I've blogged again. We had to clear up some space on our computer so I could upload some new pictures and now that we have done that, hopefully I can get back into blogging. (If I had a nickel for every time I've said that!)

To kick my blogging back off, I wanted to start with an update on each boy. So here is a little update on Brennan.

I can't believe that he will be five in February. I know that's still several months away, but five seems so big to me! He is loving his new school. I knew he would. He loves school just like his Momma always did. I dropped him off on the first day and he didn't cry at all. He stood in line with his teacher and has made lots of friends this year. I think it's funny because his best friends in his class last year were boy/girl twins. And this year he has good friends again that are boy/girl twins!

His teacher pulled me aside after the very first day of school and said, "He reads. Like really reads." She's been teaching many years and I'm not sure she's had a reader in her preschool class before. She is loving it and has been collaborating with the kindergarten teachers on what to work on next with him.

Not only can he read, but he also loves math. He's a little nerd all around! He loves for me to quiz him on math problems. We've been using sidewalk chalk a lot the last few days and I'll write out math problems for him to solve. Isn't that what all four-year-olds want to do when they play outside? He can count by 10s forward and backwards and can also count by 2s.

He asks a bazillion questions every single day. And I try to answer all of them. He never slept during the 13+ hour trip from CT to TN and from KY back to CT. Him not sleeping meant he was talking the entire time! He is so observant and is my little backseat driver telling me when lanes end and what the speed limit is.

He has quite the imagination lately. He is always making up games to play. He still loves his iPad, but also loves all kinds of board games and knows the rules to each one of them. He has gotten better about losing too, which is a big improvement.

He still loves AWANA and everything about church. He just started Cherub Choir again and I can't wait for him to sing on Sunday mornings.

The biggest change I've seen is that he has decided to give up his nap. It was a glorious 4.5 years, but it has come to an end. I need to get better about creating some quiet time activities for him. Right now he is playing iPad so Mommy can have some quiet time and write this blog. :)

Since nap time is no more, he's been going to bed a little earlier. Most nights he is in bed by 7:30 and some days now he will actually sleep past 7am, which used to never happen. He's got quite the little attitude problem which hasn't been fun. I'm trying to give him some grace because I know his body is adjusting to no nap, but sheesh he can be frustrating. Thankfully he seems to be a little angel at school.

He's getting so big, but also still likes to be carried sometimes. There are more things he needs to learn how to do independently (putting on his shoes, getting dressed and undressed), but most days I pick my battles.

Here are his answers to some questions I like to ask him a few times each year:

1. What's your favorite color? Pink
2. What's your favorite song? Deep and Wide
3. What's your favorite book? Nap Yes Nap No
4. What's your favorite tv show? Daniel Tigers' Neighborhood
5. What's your favorite movie? Rio
6. What do you like to drink? Chocolate milk
7. What do you like to eat for lunch? Lunchables
8. What's your favorite snack? Skittles
9. Who's your best friend? Liam
10. Who's your girlfriend? Mommy
11. What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play games
12. What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Wrestle
13. What's your favorite game? Connect 4
14. What's your favorite restaurant? Panera
15. What's your favorite iPad game? Minion Rush
16. What's your favorite place to go on vacation? Florida
17. What's your favorite thing to do outside? Swing
18. What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor

So there's a little update about B-Nugget!

Dear Brennan,

Today you are four years old. I am simply amazed that four years have already gone by.

I'll start off by giving your answers to some questions I asked you yesterday.

 1. What's your favorite color? Pink

 2. What's your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me

 3. What's your favorite book? Who Will Be My Valentine This 

     Year? (a current library book)

 4. What's your favorite tv show? Team Umizoomi and Caillou

 5. What's your favorite movie? Frozen 

 6. What do you like to drink? Chocolate milk

 7. What do you like to eat for lunch? Macaroni and cheese

 8. What's your favorite snack? Goldfish

 9. Who's your best friend? Anna and Marie 

     (we saw Marie yesterday at Target, so she was on his mind)

10. Who's your girlfriend? Mommy. Wait, I love you Mommy

      but I love GaGa too. 

11. What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play games

12. What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Wrestle

13. What's your favorite game? Uno Attack

14. What's your favorite restaurant? Chilis

15. What's your favorite iPad game? My new ping pong game

16. What's your favorite place to go on vacation? Golfing

17. What's your favorite thing to do outside? Go sledding

18. What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor

You were so funny and kept asking me to ask even more questions, but I was running out of things to ask. Here are some other things I want to remember about you at this age...

You currently wear mostly 4T shirts, but still mainly 3T pants. Your shoe size is still a tiny 8. We've made big progress during this past week and you are now wearing underpants at nighttime and that's going great. It's funny because you used to be so picky about not wanting a single thing in bed with you. Now you sleep with nine stuffed animals every night. They all have a specific spot that have to be too. You just recently started complaining about it being too dark in your room (after almost four years of wanting it pitch black) so now you have a small nightlight. Our bedtime routine really hasn't changed much at all in four years. I still read you two stories every night, read from your Bible and pray with you, sing you two songs, then kiss you goodnight. You currently want 10 kisses and 100 hugs each night. Most days you still take a 2-hour nap and then go to bed between 7:30-8 each night. You've always been such a good sleeper!

You go to school three days each week for 2.5 hours and love it. We also see some of your favorite friends from school at the library on Thursdays for story time. You go to AWANA on Sunday nights and love being a part of the Cubbies. You easily learn your scripture each week and enjoy playing games there. You are also a part of the Cherub Choir at church and tend to steal the show during the monthly performances. In March, you will move to a new 4-year-old Sunday school class. You are looking forward to the change, but it also means you'll have to sit through some of the church service with us now until you're dismissed for children's church. I'm so glad you love church so much!

I've always said you're a smart boy and that certainly still applies. You can read entire books completely on your own. You've picked up books you've never even seen before and read them. You simply love learning and are always asking questions. The things you know never cease to amaze me. Like how you know the exit number of every place we go to off the highway. Or how you are so good at reading a clock and even know a new hour starts after :59. You can count by 10s easily and can count backwards from 20 quick as a flash. 

I love seeing all the things you can do independently now. You go pee in the bathroom alone. You can reach the bathroom faucet to turn the water on and off by yourself. You can reach your bedroom light switch which is really high up. You use the trackpad on the laptop by yourself now. You put your shoes on alone and take your coat and snow clothes off by yourself. But then I also love that there are still some things you're baby about; like how you want to be carried from the car if it's dark outside or if there's snow on the ground. I don't love the babyish whining that still happens a lot. We are constantly working on that and on obeying Mommy and Daddy the first time without grumbling or arguing. 

One of my absolute favorite things right now is our morning time together. You still stay in your bed and wait for 7:00 before you say, "Mommy I'm ready to get up now". Then most mornings I come in there and crawl in bed with you. We get to snuggle for a little bit and you just keep telling me over and over again that you love me. It is the best! 

You are still obsessed with the iPad and play it way too much. You are constantly asking for new games on it. You also love golfing right now. You like playing mini-golf and love watching golf on TV. You've gotten in a bunch of sledding time with Mommy and Daddy this winter because it snows once or twice every single week it seems. Wrestling is still probably your number one choice of activities though; especially with Daddy! 

Goodness, I'm sure there are so many things I am leaving out. You always tell me you're not a baby, but you'll always be my baby. I love you so much, my sweet boy. 

Love, 

Mommy

Enjoy some pictures from yesterday and today!

I love his face in this next one when he realizes he's opening the game "Sorry". It was the only thing he asked for for his birthday.

I Love You Too!

Brennan,
You're another month older today. I guess I'm not writing traditional "Dear Brennan" posts each month anymore, but I still like to document some of things you're doing. This will just be a short post about some of the funny and cute things you've said recently.

Just under a week before we left for our Florida trip, we were talking about it while I was giving you a bath. I asked you, "Are you excited about swimming in the pools when we go to Florida?" Your response was the best, "Yes, but I'm excited about church tomorrow too!" I'm so happy you love church. You love going to your 2s and 3s class on Sunday mornings. You're loving AWANA this year and are the cutest Cubbie ever and doing so great with learning your Bible verses. And you've also joined the Cherub Choir and will sing in the front of the congregation for the first time this Sunday!

One day while I was driving you to school you realized the sun and the moon were both in the sky. You said, "The moon and the sun are out. God was here today and put the moon and the sun in the sky." My heart just melts when you say sweet things like that!

You also say, "I love you too!" about 20 times a day. You always put the "too" on the end even when you say it first. My usually response is, "I love you too, baby", but now calling you "baby" is no loner acceptable. I have to say, "I love you too, big boy."

Most of the time you are such a sweet boy. You certainly have your cranky days, but there are many more sweet ones than crabby ones. You were so good on our trip to Florida. I know we aren't able to see our extended family much, but you love them so much anyways. You really loved your GaGa this trip and every time you see our family picture from vacation you say, "My favorite one in that picture is GaGa!"

You have made some gross motor improvements recently too. I know these shouldn't be a big deal for your age, but they are for you. You can now climb into your car seat by yourself. The fact that there's actually room between the driver's seat and your new seat now helped with that. You have started climbing up stairs without needing to hold onto to anything. That's huge for you! You are great at catching a ball and very close to being able to get your shoes on by yourself. School has helped you with becoming more independent with your pants and underpants when you go potty; you take them down and pull them up by yourself now.

I think this age is fun because you can do so many things by yourself, but you still let me snuggle you and want to be carried sometimes. You are such a sweetheart and I love you bunches and bunches!

Love,
Mommy

Reasons Brennan is Freaking Out

Today Brennan is 43 months old. Instead of doing a traditional "Dear Brennan" post today, I thought I'd do something a little different.

Inspired by the blog Reasons My Son is Crying and an article I recently read entitled 46 Reasons My Toddler Might be Freaking Out I thought I'd compile a nice little list of reasons Brennan may be freaking out. These are very specific to Brennan, so they might not be funny to everyone, but he likes things the way he likes them and you better watch out if you don't do something right.

Reasons Brennan May be Freaking Out:

 1. His bathroom stool is facing the wrong direction.
 2. His dirty clothes are not in his hamper.
 3. His light saber is upside down next to his toy box.
 4. His Bible isn't in the right spot on his bedside table.
 5. His penis is wrong in his underpants.
 6. His pillow fell down onto his bed.
 7. There isn't a pink ____ to choose when picking a prize.
 8. His fork won't pick up his food.
 9. The outside of his cup is wet.
10. Bryce is touching him.
11. I didn't let him press the buttons on the microwave.
12. I forgot to put socks on him at bedtime.
13. I didn't hang his backpack up on the hook in his room.
14. He rolled (spun) a 6, but is only 4 spaces away from the finish in a board game.
15. I didn't go down the aisles in numerical order at the commissary.
16. Someone skipped a number when counting.
17. I told him bath time is at 7:15, then we start playing and realize the clock says 7:16.
18. There is hair on his hand.
19. We need to go on I-95S and he wants to go North.
20. We didn't drive him by the newly renovated blue house in our neighborhood for the fiftieth time.
21. I need to clip his fingernails or God forbid his toenails.
22. I didn't put his peach oatmeal in the matching orange bowl for breakfast.

I'm sure I could think of some more, but 22 is a pretty good place to stop. 22 is just over half of how many months old Brennan is today and since he is 3 years old, he could also be freaking out that the opposite of all these things are happening. ;)

Brennan, momma loves you and all your little quirks!

Dear Brennan,

Yesterday you turned 3 1/2 years old! I'm not sure I'm going to keep doing these updates each month now that you're getting so big. I might just start doing more of a list version or just a recap of some the funny things you're saying or doing. You are wearing mostly 3T clothes, but I was just saying the other day that we will probably start buying anything new in 4T. I love this time because you can wear such a wide range of clothes. Some things that say 24 months will still fit you, but 4T still fits fine too. You did have to get new shoes this past month! I was putting your shoes on one morning and realized they were really tight. You're now wearing a size 8! You still wear a Pull-Up at bedtime and most mornings it's still wet. I'm hoping you won't be a seven-year-old that needs to wear Pull-Ups!

In last month's update I mentioned your attitude. I am so happy to say that it has been so so so much better this past month. If that was the extent of your terrible 3's then I think we have gotten off easy! You have been super pleasant and I love it. You are such a good helper with your brother. Sometimes I'll be back in the nursery and realize I left the baby wipes or something else I need out in the living room and you bring it right to me. You still seem to like Bryce, but aren't a fan of when he rolls up to you and touches you while you're standing up. I always remind you that you're bigger and can move faster than him so you just need to move to a different spot. Bryce still adores you and lights up anytime he looks at you!

You attended VBS at the end of July. In the past you stayed in the nursery while Mommy worked, but this year you went around with the preschool crew. You're supposed to be four to do that, but they made exception for you and you did great. It was totally cool to see you singing and dancing while I was leading worship on stage! We've been talking about school starting back up and you seem super excited for it. You'll be going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting at the beginning of September.

Your obsession with numbers continues. You seriously LOVE numbers. You still love exit numbers. You always want to see how much battery power is left on the iPad or my phone. At the mall we have to walk in Old Navy just to see what checkout lane numbers are lit up and open. You love the checkout lane numbers at Target and the commissary too. I thought the commissary was going to be dreadful this summer since I'd be going most weeks with you and your brother, but it is so super easy because you get so excited to see which lanes are open and to go up and down the aisles in order. Just recently you have started to hold my phone during our grocery trips and will check off the items on the list for me as I pick them up.

When I was putting you to bed tonight, I realized I haven't really talked about our bedtime routine in quite awhile. You get a bath almost every night before bed. You like Mommy to give you your bath, but we've made progress to at least let Daddy start your tubby as long as Mommy does the washing after I put Bryce to bed. You are super good about going to bed because we still just tell you what the clock will say when it's bedtime and you don't put up any fight. After we brush your teeth and go potty, you always get to pick out two stories. It's so cute to watch you stand at your bookshelf and decide what books you want. Lots of time you'll pick out books from the library. For the past week or so we've read the story Emily's First 100 Days of School at every nap and bedtime. It counts to 100, so it's no surprise you like that one! After those two stories, we pray together, Mommy sings you "Jesus Loves Me" and "One More Minute" (a Mommy original), and then you go to sleep. You don't ever get out of your bed at nap or bedtime. Most days you'll stay in bed until 4 at naptime and you always stay quiet until 7 in the morning. If only your brother was as good of a sleeper as you!

Your reading continues to blow us away. You read signs when we are out that have words we had no idea you knew. You are learning to sound things out. It's really amazing. We've been practicing writing your letter and numbers. You are just such a smart dude!

You say some of the best things! Here are a few of my favorites right now:

• "Turn your head over!" - said when I'm not looking at you.
• "You're so beautiful." - you've started saying this when you know I'm frustrated with you!
• "Pay attention, Rachel!" - you told me that the other day when I messing up on an iPad game.
• "We've never done this in a while." - said when we haven't done something in awhile.
• "Look at this booger, Mommy! It's a good one!" - you just said that one today after nap!

You just got a new car seat. You love it! Bryce is using the one you were in, so you got an upgrade. Things like that show me how quickly you're growing up! I feel like this is just such a fun age. You take in everything around you and don't forget anything. You talk constantly and are getting more and more energetic. You don't sit or stand still for very long periods of time anymore; you're almost always bouncing around. You're such a sweet little dude!

I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Dear Brennan,

You're 41 months old now little dude. You'd be made if you knew I called you little. :) You are growing up so fast and developing quite the personality, which isn't always so pleasant. I can definitely tell you are getting taller, but you are still holding strong in your teeny size 7 shoes and wearing mostly 3T clothes. 

I mentioned in the last update that we had seen an attitude starting to develop. Boy it has reared its ugly little head more than a few times again this month. I know it's all part of growing up, but sheesh it's so frustrating. I know every parent has been through it and I think it's just driving me a little crazier than it should because I'm so sleep deprived. You have mastered the art of talking back. So many times during the day you'll snap back with the opposite of what I say. Even if I say something like "Be careful, you're going to get hurt." You say, "I wanna get hurt!" back in an angry voice. I am so very thankful you are still taking naps each day because without that break in there I'm not sure I could take it! You have thrown some pretty good fits when we are leaving places too now. Not full out tantrums, but you can scream with the best of them. 

But just like I mentioned last month, you then come out with the sweetest little things you say and I know you truly have a kind, sweet heart and that being three is just tough. At random times throughout the day you'll look at me and say, "I love you too!" just out of the blue. You always tell Bryce that you've missed him if he's been away napping or at church. You are great at cleaning up (most of the time) and say "yes ma'am" a ton too now. You use please and thank you without being reminded. 

We took a trip to Vermont this past month and you had a such a good time. You did keep saying you wanted to come home to see Auntie Val, but I know you had fun. You loved playing at the Fun Zone. You really enjoyed the bounce houses there and loved playing mini golf. You liked it so much that we bought you a little golf set when we got back home. We also just bought you a little bowling set and you have been playing that daily. I know you're only three, but I always wonder if any of these interests you have right now will prove to be something you love doing as you get older. 

While we were in Vermont, you watched the tv show The Octonauts for the first time and really started liking it. You haven't watched it here during the past week or so, but for a while you were obsessed. I printed off some Octonauts activities from Carisa's site and you LOVED those. You are getting really good at identifying coins and can tell how much each coin is worth. You also understand greater than and less than from that packet after I showed you one time. 

You are so so very smart. You picked up a book from Bryce's room just the other day and read it cover to cover to me. Read it. We haven't read that book in over six months and I only had to help you with one word. You are really learning how to sound out words to read them and you can also spell some words too. You are so good at board games, but you can't play them with anyone your age because most three year olds don't understand or follow the rules and that makes you mad. You have to play by the rules (with occasional cheating at Candy Land). One of your newest favorites is to play Domino War. We put all the dominoes upside down in the middle and each draw on. The person with the most dots wins those two dominoes. It's great counting review and it's even caused you to remember some addition facts because you know 5+5=10 and 6+6=12 without counting. You are doing great at writing your first name and on the 4th of July proved me right and counted all the way to 100 by yourself. Your smarts show up in the car too because you're now interested in direction. You like watching the little compass rose on the rearview mirror and shout from your car seat, "We're going northwest, we're going east!" 

I have mentioned before that you are speaking much more clearly now. We did have an incident back at the beginning of the month where I could not understand what you were saying though. It started while we were at the commissary and you said something about the race car cart you were riding in. I just sort of pretended I knew what you were saying while we were there, but then you brought it up again in the car. It sounded like you were saying, "The green car was a vegetable." I kept trying different words trying to guess what you were saying and you started crying so hard because I couldn't figure it out. I even asked you what letter the last word started with and you said, "V". We decided to just not talk about it on the ride home. Once we had been home for a bit I asked you if we could try again. You repeated it and I still couldn't figure it out. But then you said it one more time and it hit me, "The green car was available".  It all made sense then because usually as we are driving to the commissary you tell me what color race car cart you want and I'll say, "We'll see if it's available". Well that day the green car was available. I just thought it was so cute that you were using such a big word and loved that you sounded it out and said it started with a "V". 

You love playing rough and thankfully Daddy is home for a quite a bit longer because he's much better at that than Mommy. You love for him to wrap you up in a blanket like a taco and he even wraps you up in it and swings you all around the living room. You just laugh and laugh. You've decided that Bryce is now big enough to wrestle too. I'm sure he'll be tougher than you are. I don't think he'll have a choice. And you still love playing the iPad. Just two days ago, I printed off some tickets I made so you can earn iPad time. During the day you can choose a ticket and perform that task to earn 10 minutes of time. Some of the tasks include: writing your name, listening to a Bible story, reading a book, completing a puzzle, etc. Once you complete an activity, you know how to set the timer on the iPad and will play for your allotted time. There have still been some tears when the timer goes off, but it seems to be working pretty well. It's limiting your time on the iPad and getting you do some activities I'd like you to be working on this summer. 

You're just growing up so fast and even on the not so great days, I love being your Mommy!

Love, 

Mommy

Dear Brennan,

You are now 40 months old! And it's a good thing you're cute because the past month has not been the easiest. :) You still wear mainly 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. And are also still wearing a "car's night night" (Pull-up) at bedtime. Here's what else you've been up during the last month.

I can definitely say we survived the twos without them being terrible, but the threes aren't looking so lucky. That's not to say you're not still a sweet boy, because you have many many sweet moments and overall I do think you are still a good listener. But boy oh boy you have quite an attitude now. You have also started to yell, which is not cool at all. You like the words "no" and "now" a lot and have been spending much more time sitting on your bed thinking about your choices recently.

Raising a kid is super hard. I know this is all just part of you growing up and becoming more independent. I know you won't always be on your best behavior at all times, but it makes Mommy said when you aren't being the sweet little boy I'm used to seeing. You understand things so well and we have gotten to have some really good conversations about obeying. We talk about Matthew 12:34 often and that if your heart is good then good and kind words will come out of your mouth.

Even in the midst of hard times, you say the sweetest things. One day I came into your room after you woke up from your nap and climbed in bed with you. You rolled over and and gave me a kiss and said, "I love you little pumpkin." I melted! You also say super funny things. We were talking about going back to school in September and that you'll be in a bigger class because you'll be a big boy and you responded with, "And I'll have a big penis!" I'm not sure I should have laughed at that comment, but I couldn't help myself.

Your talking is much easier to understand now. I think being around other kids at school has helped with that. When we do have a hard time figuring out what you're trying to say, you get frustrated and keep saying the word louder and louder. Your "Ls" still sound like "Ws" and you don't usually pronounce the "Ss" at the beginning of words like "spoon" and "star". You have what sounds like a country accent when you say some words; especially the word "yeah" which has 2 syllables to you. You use the words "maybe" and "maybe not" often when my answer to your question is "I don't know". It's pretty cute.

You've been waking up early in the morning and not always obeying our "be quiet in your bed til 7am" rule. Thankfully at 3 years old you still stay in your bed until I come in to get you and you're still taking a good nap almost everyday. When I come into your room in the morning or after nap, the first thing you always say is, "I wanna play the iPad!" You're a little obsessed and this summer I'm going to have to do a better job of limiting your time on there.

I always talk about how smart you are, but each month you never cease to amaze me. You can read pretty much any CVC word now. The other day we were playing with sidewalk chalk outside and I just started writing random CVC words and you could read them all. People are always asking me, "How does he know that?" and my answer is always, "I don't know." If I tell you something once, you just don't seem to forget it and you are constantly asking questions so you can learn more. Your newest thing is asking if we are going to drive on 95 South or 95 North when we are leaving the house. Just little things like that show me how aware you are of what's going on around you.

Sometimes you still act babyish and seem more codependent than your peers. You still like to be carried around, but are getting much too big for that silliness. We've had to get to stricter with making you do things on your own even when you're whining "Mommy do it!" Mommy has to learn to give up some control too and just let you try, even if it takes 4 times as long to get something done. I have seen lots of improvement in your socialization. Again I'm sure school has helped. You will initiate conversations with kids at the playground. You want to play with others and get your feelings hurt if they don't want to play with you. You still prefer calm activities most of the time. Just the other night we were over at Parker's house and Parker was playing swords with Daddy and you were just off to the side blowing bubbles. But then you both played at the water table and that's one of your favorites.

I love to hear you talk about school. At the beginning of the year you said very little about your day, but now you go on and on about it. You have your first little girlfriend named Jaina and talk about her a lot. You always tell me which kids went to timeout and which kids were running or crying. You like to tell me about what you painted that day and can always tell me what your book of the day was about. I know you won't always be so willing to share details about school, so I love it.

You continue to be a great big brother. I have taken a lot of pictures over the last month of you laying on the floor with Bryce. Bryce is close to being mobile though and I think that will change the way you feel about him. :) I cherish the moments I catch you hugging and kissing on him (even if it does sometimes turn into trying to squash him).

You are growing up so fast. After today you only have one day left of your first year of preschool. You make sure I know you're not a baby anymore and say that you're "medium" now. You have started peeing while standing up now (my bathroom may never be the same again!). And I know it's not going to slow down anytime soon! You can be oh so frustrating, but I just love you so very much!

Love,
Mommy

Seriously cute, right?!?!

And a few more...

Dear Brennan,

You're a whopping 39 months now! This is a funny age because in some ways you seem wise beyond your years, but sometimes you still act very babyish. Nothing new in the clothing or shoe size department. You still wear mostly 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. Here's a little more about what you've been up to the last month.

Your Papaw came to visit. You love him so much. It's a shame we don't get to see our family more often, but I'm so glad you know exactly who they are and love them anyways. You had lots of fun playing ball in the basement with him. You also liked to wrestle. You still love to wrestle with anyone!

You went to the dentist again. You seem to like going, which is good. I think you've been three times now. It's so nice that you're already used to it at this age. You sat in the chair by yourself like a big boy this time. You did great and even practiced getting your teeth x-rayed so they can do that next time. Little things excite you so much so getting stickers, toothpaste, a new toothbrush, and a new flosser just made your day! The dentist always remarks that your teeth are close together, so I'm sure braces are in your future. Bummer!

You are such a good big brother. You love to go into Bryce's room when he wakes up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Brycey!" Then you look at his clock and tell me what time he woke up. You listen to him when he babbles like you know what he's saying. Sometimes you talk back to him and say, "I love you too, Brycey." You call him "Brycey" most of the time. You often ask if Bryce can take a bath with you, but I have a feeling once that is able to happen you won't be wanting it anymore.

You have such a good heart. You tell me often that I am your best friend. Your best friend used to be Auntie Val, but now you say it's me! :) It melts my heart. Unsolicited "I love you"s are the best! You crack me up when we play games together because you're constantly saying, "Good going, Mommy!" Your teachers must say "good going" at school because I don't think I say it, but it's just the sweetest.

You are still super sensitive and can cry at the smallest (and often silliest) things. A tiny little bump can send you into hysterics as can someone just looking you. Then there are the funny moments like we had today where you are laughing and jumping in a puddle, then all of a sudden you start crying because you're wet. :) You have also started to get mad more often. You'll let out a scream and I'll take you straight to your bed. We will keep working on using big boy words instead of screaming and crying.

You are singing a lot more now and I love it. Well most of the time. Sometimes it's annoying. :) You sing the ABCs about 100 times a day and VERY loudly. You also sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star a lot. You will sing some of the songs you sing in class at church too. However, you won't ever sing me any of the songs you sing at school.

I know I say every month how smart you are, but it's worth saying again. You're definitely gifted. And so very observant. When we're driving down the highway and pass different exits, you tell me what we use that exit for: "Exit 88 is for the library and playground, Exit 87 is for church, Exit 86 is for school". It's so funny. You can read all your color words and so so so much more. And I'm beginning to think you're really learning to read, not just memorizing words. You see words completely out of context and read them. You are such a quick learner. You have a new game on the iPad that you like. It asks you to make a number and you have to create it using base ten blocks and you can do it easily. I'm so glad you're smart, but I definitely don't want you to be bored in school. Right now I'm just thankful you love learning.

Now that the weather is getting nicer, we've been able to play outside more. I think we'll do that a lot this spring and summer. You don't like bumblebees (or most bugs for that matter), so I'm working on helping you overcome that fear so that we are able to get outside. If you see a bumblebee flying around while we're inside you'll say, "We can't play outside the bumblebee is back." I like watching you around other kids now too. You walk up to kids you don't know and try to initiate playing with them. You often ask, "What your name is?" It's pretty darn cute. You're still slower than most kids your age at running and climbing, but you've made drastic improvements in your gross motor skills.

Even at your whiniest, you are such a lovable little boy. I was just telling you the other day how much I love you and that I hope you're always a good boy, love people, and love Jesus. And I told you to always give Mommy hugs and kisses no matter how old you are. I love you so very much!

Love,
Mommy

I know I already shared this picture of him, but it's my favorite right now!

Dear Brennan,

You are now 38 months old and here and I go again still doing these updates for you. You currently weigh 30 pounds and are just over 36 inches tall. At your 36 month checkup, you were in the 25th percentile for height and weight. You wear a variety of clothing sizes, but mostly 3T tops and bottoms.

We just got back this week from a trip to Georgia. You were a great traveler just like you've always been. As long as I have plenty of snacks and the iPad on the plane, you're good to go. You were even excellent when we had a five hour layover in the tiny Norfolk airport. You had fun playing with Adah and Michaela. When I ask you what your favorite part of the trip was, you say, "Jumping on the trampoline!". You did have fun doing that. We went to the beach while we were there and you loved it even more than when we were in Myrtle Beach last September. We also saw a Disney on Ice show and you really liked that too.

You are becoming much more independent. At home you will grab your stool from the bathroom and move it anywhere around the house to help you reach things. You are still a Momma's boy, but don't have to be right beside me when out in public. You'll walk up to other people and say hi and initiate playing with other kids when at the park. You are already trying to play with your brother even though he's still too little to play with you right now.

You are very sensitive still and cry easily. You cry almost every time you fall down, even if it's just a tiny little fall. You actually had a big fall the day we were leaving for Georgia. You fell down the basement stairs. It was 4:15 in the morning, so I think you were still half asleep. You were looking for me and thought I was downstairs and attempted to go down by yourself. You are perfectly capable of walking down alone, but that particular morning you didn't make it. I'm not sure how many steps you fell down, but your head hit the tile floor at the bottom. It was pretty scary, but you actually only a cried for a minute with that fall. You immediately got a big goose egg on your egg. Mommy and Daddy made you do all sorts of things to check you out and you seemed perfectly fine, so off to the airport we went.

You can also be very, VERY whiny. You like things the way you like them and get whiny if they aren't done that way. You would get very upset when Adah missed a number while counting when we were in GA. You don't like it if Mommy or Daddy are sitting in the "wrong" chairs at the kitchen table. You sometimes still ask to be carried; especially if we're outside in the dark.

Everyday you surprise me with something new you can read. You are starting to sound words out and it amazes me. You're great at using pictures to help you figure out new words too. You pretty much talk all day everyday. People on the airplanes kept talking about how much you talk. This month it was really neat to hear you talk about Good Friday and Easter and see how you're starting to understand those holidays. Some of the new things you're saying are: "mine" (I'm glad it took over 3 years for this one to start!), "oh my gosh", "no way, Jose", "I'm sad", "I not get frustrated".

Boy can you get frustrated! You are my child! You want to do everything just right. You get mad when you're trying to write your letters and they don't turn out perfect. If you mess up on a game on the iPad you often throw a fit and end up sitting on your bed for a while until you calm down. You are quite the perfectionist. Mommy reminds you often that you don't need to get frustrated and that's why you will excitedly say, "I not get frustrated!" You like the word "no" and "now", but we're working on being more polite and patient. You still really don't have temper tantrums, but when were leaving Disney on Ice you threw a fit and refused to walk. I had Bryce in the Ergo and ended up having to carry you too. Hopefully that the first and last time that happens, but I highly doubt it!

Despite your whiny nature, you are still such a sweet boy. You have started grabbing my face and giving me kisses for no reason. You still love to snuggle on the couch and in your bed. You like for me to scratch your head and hold your hand. You give great big bear hugs. You have a calm nature compared to other kids your age and still like to sit and do puzzles and play board games. You have two new shows you like to watch: Little Einsteins and Imagination Movers.

Thankfully you are staying dry at naptime again now. Somedays you'll ask to wear a Pull-up at nap, but you don't need it anymore. You can function pretty well without a nap if you have to, but still like to take one and will sleep 2-3 hours most days. You even had several nights in GA where you stayed dry all night long, but aren't doing that consistently yet. While we were away, you continued waking up early, but since we've been home, you've been sleeping in again. I assume you're just catching up on sleep, but I'm hopeful you will start sleeping past 7 again!

For the most part, I feel like you're such a good, easy going kid. You are so very smart and observant and loving. I really just can't get enough of you!

Love,
Mommy

He decided to just dump out his entire Easter basket!

I know I shared this one already, but he's so darn cute!

He loves playing the drums at church!

Dear Brennan,

I contemplated not doing these updates for you now that you're the big 0-3, but I just love them so much I don't think I can stop. I love having a place to document the things you are doing and it's especially nice to be able to look back at what you were doing when you were Bryce's age. So for now, I'll keep writing them. You are now 37 months old. I guess we stop telling your age in months at this point. You are wearing 3T clothes and just got some new size 7 shoes! You had a great third birthday party and you can show 3 on your fingers!

Unfortunately the day after you turned 3, you got a stomach bug. Thankfully it was short-lived, but it was so sad to see you all lethargic and pukey. You were a strange sick kind though, because you kept saying you liked puke and diarrhea. After the stomach bug, you had a cold for a while and that gave you a cough that stayed around for a long time. It made for a few restless nights of sleep for you, but now you seem healthy again! You see the doctor for your official check-up later this week, but when I took you in while you were sick you weighed right under 30lbs. Of course that was after a day of puking and not eating at all, so I'm sure you're over that mark now.

I feel like the restless nights of sleep and your brother sometimes waking up around 6:30am have caused you to start waking up earlier in the mornings. You used to sleep until 7:30 very consistently, but lately you've been waking before 7, which is too early for this Momma. You don't get out of bed when you wake up, but you start calling out, "Mommy, mommy" over and over again. I was considering buying you a Tot Clock of some sort, but since we already had a digital clock in your room I decided to try something else. One morning when you woke at 6:45, I came into your room and got in bed with you. I told you to look at the first number on the clock and that when it said '7' you could get up. You didn't fall back to sleep during those 15 minutes, but you did lay still and watch the clock and as soon as it said '7', you said "Time to get up now!". Since then you're waiting until 7:00 (on the dot) to start calling out for me. I still wish you would sleep later, but at least now you're being quiet until then. You're such a good boy!

Speaking of sleep, you are still sleeping with no pillows, no cover, and no stuffed animal or anything in your bed. I think it's totally bizarre. I guess we need to give Bryce a blanket early, so he learns to sleep with one. You seem plenty warm at night, so I guess it's not a big deal; just strange. We use the word "strange" with you a lot! :)

You have always liked our dog, Ringo, but you seem especially fond of him as you're getting older. This makes Mommy sad because Ringo is not her favorite! When we kenneled Ringo for your birthday party, you kept asking where he was. You like to wrestle with him (until he gets too rough) and occasionally ask to ride him.

You have a new game you like to play now; Trouble. You got Candyland for your birthday and since we already own it, we took it back and you picked out Trouble as your new game. You understand the directions and follow the rules most of the time when you're playing. Lala brought you a special Thomas the Train version that we've been playing recently too.

That's right, your Auntie Lala came to visit! We don't get to see her very often, but boy do you love her! You couldn't stop talking about her visiting and once she was her, you were with her during most of your waking hours. She even got to put you to bed two nights! I'm so glad you all get along so well even though we live so far apart!

We've been working on correcting your words when you speak. Some words you just don't say clearly and we've been trying to get you to work on them. We also correct your grammar sometimes. We've been working a lot on using the word "I" instead of "me" and you get so excited when you use it correctly. We hear a lot of "I did it!" now. Then you jump up and down because you said "I" correctly. It's nice to know you like correct grammar like your Mommy (and Auntie Val).

Every week when we're at church, at least one person mentions to me how much you're talking now. You talk all the time and it's so nice to know that people are able to start understanding you more. People constantly talk about how smart you are, which makes me very happy, but what I love to hear is when people say what a good boy you are. It makes me very proud when people are impressed by how obedient you are (most of the time!). We've been working on saying, "Yes ma'am" recently and I think it's so cute to hear you say that.

People are right though, you are a smart boy. You are "reading" so many words now. I guess it's really more just recognizing them, but it's cute to see you run your finger across the word from left and right and try to figure out what it says. A few weeks ago, you surprised me and read the words "go" and "happy" in a book. I had no idea you knew those. And just last week, you were playing with you magnetic calendar. You pulled out all the months and were reading them. You know your months of the year and were mainly just looking at the initial letters because you'd get May/March mixed up and January/June/July mixed up, but again I was so impressed. You are so observant and if you're told something one time, you don't forget it.

Some of the funnier things you're doing right now include saying, "I'm growing up!" You'll say that when you're too big to fit somewhere (like Bryce's playmat) or when you do something new on your own (like reach the light switches). You also like to motorboat on Mommy boobs. And sometimes other people's boobs too! Your Daddy taught you that trick awhile back, but now you come right up to me and say, "I wanna rotorboat" (you say it with an r) and I die laughing every time. I guess we should probably get you to stop doing that soon.

I know I say this every month, but you really are such a sweet boy. You give me hugs and kisses many times each day and say unsolicited I love you's! You continue to be a great big brother and love to hug and kiss on Bryce too. You love going to church and you are learning so much about Jesus in your class and I just pray that you will grow to love Him. I really think you're going to have such a big heart for loving people!

I love you so very very much!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Brennan,

Happy Happy Birthday to you my big three year old! How is it even possible that you're already three?!? You got to ring in your birthday this weekend with a huge snowstorm! We got at least two feet of snow at our house! So glad it didn't snow like that three years ago when you were born! We will be having a Mickey Mouse birthday party on Saturday to celebrate your big day!

I won't have your official weight and height stats until Wednesday when you go to the doctor, but you've definitely been growing and are right at if not over 30 pounds now. After I came home from the hospital with Bryce, you looked huge to me. I'm not sure if you really had a growth spurt or if you just looked so much bigger when compared to your little brother.

You have been an excellent big brother so far. So much better than I could have ever imagined. You are still doing well at playing independently when I need to feed Bryce. You are more willing to try something again if you can't get it the first time, but still get frustrated easily at times too. You get concerned if he's crying and always want to know where he is. Sometimes you like to play on the playmat with him.

You've always liked puzzles, but are absolutely loving them right now. 25 piece puzzles are easy for you now. You are also a pro at the iPad and probably use it way too much, but it's been a lifesaver when I need to feed Bryce. You love any letter or number game I find for you, but your new favorite game is Flow. It's not even a kid's game, but you're so good at it. Just like always, you blow me away with how smart you are. You speak in full paragraphs now and talk and talk all day. People at church say you have your own little language because they can't always understand you, but your words are getting clearer all the time. You use past tense words a lot now; sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly. I think it's cute when you say, "Where'd Daddy went?"

You are doing great learning how to write your letters. You've always been able to trace them on the iPad, but now you can write some completely on your own since we started Raising Rock Stars Preschool. You also recite several Bible verses now. You like doing arts and crafts, especially painting. You also have a new interest in helping me in the kitchen. You like to stand on a kitchen chair and help me cook and you always help me when I give Bryce a bath.

You have really been enjoying playing basketball with our indoor hoop. You've gotten really good at shooting and if you miss you'll either say "air ball" or "brick". Daddy taught you those words. You definitely have more energy now than you used to. You love to run up and down the hall and love to crash onto the floor on purpose. Daddy tends to get you really hyper when he gets home from work, which is good so you can get some of that energy out. You still only want Mommy to give you a bath and put you to bed, but we are working on letting Daddy help out more. It wears Mommy out to get you all ready for bed and then have to go feed Bryce and get him ready for bed.

Even with baby Bryce being here now, your bedtime routine is pretty much the same. You get a bath and sometimes have a little more time to play after that. After you potty and brush your teeth, you get to read two stories and sometimes a short third one. (You've gotten really good at delaying bedtime with stories because you know Mommy loves that you love books). We also read your Bible each night, then pray, I sing you "Jesus Loves Me" and another song I made up that I have to sing each now, and then you go to bed. You are still waking up wet in the mornings, but you're almost always dry at naptime now, so that's good. You sleep great at night still and take a 2 hour nap each day.

You love movies and watch them too much during meals. I've mentioned before it's a habit we need to break, but it's so nice to have you happily occupied during meals. Your current favorites are Lilo and Stitch, Up, and Toy Story 2 and 3. You watch them intently and know the name of every character. You have also learned Mommy and Daddy's first names and have called us by those a few times.

You continue to excel at school. You love your teachers and you've made some good friends there too. Your teacher continually tells me what a smart boy you are. I think you'll definitely be a good student in school!

As sweet as you are, you certainly have your frustrating moments. You still like the word "no" a lot and can drag your feet when I ask you to do something quickly with the best of them. We constantly talk about obeying Mommy and Daddy. However, even in the frustrating moments, I love you so very much. You really are a sweetheart and love people. You love giving hugs and are just super friendly. And even though you're three now and a big brother, you'll always be my baby. Love you bunches!

Love,
Mommy

After Brennan wakes up from nap, I'll try to get a giraffe picture, but for now here's a picture from this morning! He's excited to be 3!

Dear Brennan,

It is pretty much mind blowing to think that you will be three next month! 3! Where has the time gone? And now that you're a big brother, I'm sure it won't be slowing down at all. Yep! Baby Bryce is here and you are a great big brother so far! I hope you two are best friends! Here's a little more of what you've been up to!

You are wearing size 3T clothes and still your 6.5 size shoes. If you're not careful, your baby brother might pass you up in shoe size! :) You'll see the doctor next month, but I feel like you've packed on a few pounds.

You talk pretty much constantly. I was in the hospital just over 36 hours and I swear you were talking more when I came home! Here are some of my current favorite sayings of yours.

• "What's that say?" - you want us to read you every printed word you see
• "Holy moly!"
• "Hugs make Mommy happy." - as you give Mommy a hug
• "That would be perfect!"
• "Where's ________?" - you say that when you don't understand a word we use
• "I wanna hold it." - asking to hold your little brother

You also differentiate between "a lot" and "a little". Sometimes you'll ask to watch a DVD and Mommy will say, "You can watch a little bit." You will reply, "Brennan watch a lot!" Just like night I was surprised by how well you were talking. You were looking for a toy and said, "I lost it. I can't find it anywhere." 

You are really into playing board games right now. You got several of them for Christmas. You like Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Chutes and Ladders. Your favorite Christmas present was definitely Hi-Ho Cherry-O (you call it "the apple tree game"), but then we bought you Candy Land and it became your favorite. It's so fun to sit down with you and play those games. You also just got another new game as your big brother present. It's called Red Rover Game and it's pretty awesome. It reviews your letters, numbers, colors, and shapes and you love it! You love for Mommy to play with you, but are also good about playing independently. When Mommy is feeding Bryce, you like to be in the room with us, but just keep yourself entertained playing with your old toys. 

You also enjoy playing Hide-n-Seek with Daddy. Well, you sort of play it. My favorite is when you hide and Daddy is trying to find you. He will walk down the hallway saying, "Is Brennan in the bathroom/bedroom/closet?" and you'll say from the place where you're hiding, "nooooo". It's so cute. No matter how many times I tell you, you just can't keep quiet. Then if you hide again, you always go back to the same place. You also like searching for Daddy, but like Mommy to come with you so Daddy doesn't scare you.

As I'm sure is the case with most almost three year olds, transitions can be a little difficult. Thankfully using a digital clock has made this much easier. When it's almost time to get ready for nap (so glad you're still napping!), bath, or bed I will tell you what the clock will say when it's time to transition and then you will watch it as you continue playing. When the clock shows the right time, you are usually ready to make the transition. We also use the timer on Mommy's phone sometimes. Having Bryce at home is helping too because I can tell you that you need to be a good example for your brother or need to make baby Bryce happy and then you'll comply quickly. We'll see how long that tactic works!

You are such a smart boy. Everyone who meets you comments about how smart you are. You have quite a few words you recognize now including: the, off, out, to, for, on, warning, Disney, and Sony. You can also read number words up to ten. You know your entire address and can say the house number, street, city, and state without any help. I think your little mind works a mile a minute. More than being smart, I pray that you love school like Mommy did and always work hard and do your best.

You have started walking down the stairs all by yourself. I know this is way overdue, but I'm glad you're doing it safely and willingly now since Mommy will be carrying Bryce down the stairs. You have also started to show interest in peeing standing up, so we'll keep working on that. You are just growing up too fast. You say you want a Mickey Mouse birthday party with a green birthday cake for your third birthday.

You certainly have your whiny moments, but overall you are such a sweet, smart boy. I am looking forward to watching you continue to interact with Bryce and looking forward to all that this next year will bring!

Love,
Mommy